Mahler’s
message for German parliamentWednesday, April 25, 2007Germany’s Environment Minister, Sigmar
Gabriel, is using Mahler’s music to send a powerful message to the country’s
parliament.

Last year the
20th anniversary Chernobyl concert held in Berlin which featured Thomas
Quasthoff singing Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. Sigmar
Gabriel is Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear
Safety in German chancellor Angela
Merkel’s cabinet. This week, in a dramatic gesture that underlines the
terrible risks associated with nuclear power, he has sent all 614 elected
members of the Bundestag a CD of the Chernobyl anniversary
concert.

The benefit concert and CD is just one of many remarkable projects in the
twenty-three year history of IPPNW
Concerts. They are part of International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), a non-partisan
international grouping of medical organisations dedicated to the abolition of
the nuclear threat, who work with the long-term victims of nuclear incidents
ranging from Hiroshima to Chernobyl. Their work was recognized with the 1984 UNESCO
Peace Prize, and 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

Scientists have long assumed that fungi exist mainly to decompose matter into chemicals that other organisms can then use. But researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found evidence that fungi possess a previously undiscovered talent with profound implications: the ability to use radioactivity as an energy source for making food and spurring their growth.
"The fungal kingdom comprises more species than any other plant or animal kingdom, so finding that they're making food in addition to breaking it down means that Earth's energetics—in particular, the amount of radiation energy being converted to biological energy—may need to be recalculated," says Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair of microbiology & immunology at Einstein and senior author of the study, published May 23 in PLoS ONE.

CHERNOBYL'S HERO RACEHORSE GIVES CHILDREN THEIR FIRST WINApril 25, 2007, New York. Right before 21st anniversary of Chernobyl accident, one race creates excitement on two continents

Thursday afternoon the children and volunteers of? Chernobyl Children's Project International in Belarus cheered
as Chernobyl's Hero circled the field in the Aqueduct stretch to get his first victory. Mike Luzzi's patient ride made the difference, as Hero broke well, then took himself back from the early fray; Luzzi got him over to the rail and then saved ground patiently, even though the splits were slow, until late in the turn. Quickly seeing nothing inside, Luzzi took Hero widest of all. He eased by the field, winning the race by three-quarters of a length and galloping out with plenty
left. The win was just in time for the first anniversary of Chernobyl on April
26th. Horse owner Bill DiScala excitedly called Chernobyl Children's Project staff and volunteers who were in Belarus at the time of the
victory.

Karakorum supports Chernobyl Children's Project International (www.chernobyl-international.org) by donating 25% of Chernobyl's Hero's earnings to the charity.. They use this money to provide medical and social care to alleviate problems that persist after the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear facility. To date, Hero has earned over $10,000 for their cause. The kids, though, are just happy that he won. And so are we.

Maria
Sharapova was this week appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations
Development Programs and has donated $100,000 (Ј51,200) to eight Chernobyl
recovery projects. The top-ranked Russian player, originally from Siberia, now
lives in Bradenton, Florida.

"My first step is to focus on the Chernobyl-affected region, where my
family has roots," Sharapova said during a ceremony at the UN in New York.

Sharapova's family left Gomel in Belarus after the Chernobyl accident. She
was born in Nyagan in Siberia a year later but left Russia for the US at age
nine to study tennis.

Yesterday, the outraged Belarusian authorities blocked all further visits by
their children to Italy. Meanwhile, in Cogoleto, the riviera village near Genoa
where Maria has been staying, journalists encountered a wall of complicitous
silence. Belarus's ambassador to Italy, Alexei Skripko , again demanded the
implementation of an order made by a court in Genoa authorizing her return. But
Cogoleto's parish priest, Father Danilo Grillo, who was due last night to lead a
candlelit procession through the village in support of Maria, told the daily
Corriere della Sera: "For a girl with those terrorized eyes, I'm ready to
sidestep the law and put her up in the church. Lots of priests did the same for
Jews during the war."

VG: It is cruel when children (like Maria
or Elian Gonzalez)
become an object of political struggle. At this time Maria has been returned to
Belarus. The foster parents of her brother were forced (they didn't wanted to)
to take her in their family. God only knows whether this poor girl will ever be
able to heal her psychological trauma.

September 7, 2006, New
York:Chernobyl'
Hero to race for children in need. When Chernobyl's Hero starts her
racing career, she will be no ordinary filly in her maiden race √ she will
carry with her the hopes of thousands of children who continue to be affected by
the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. Karakorum Racing's president Bill
DiScala purchased the New York-bred filly last month in a unique move to benefit
the work of Chernobyl Children's Project International (CCPI).According to DiScala: " I truly
believe that this horse - Chernobyl's Hero- will be an ambassador of goodwill
and hope for the future, from the United States to the children of
Chernobyl." And his hopes are high. The filly was sired by Say Florida Say,
the winner of 33 races and over $2 million, and one of the most popular New
York-breds ever to race.

Another Irish initiative - The Chernobyl
Children's Project, Clonmel, in association with Tipp fm Radio is organizing the
Clonmel
National Song Contest.The Clonmel National Song Contest is now
in its second year. It was very successful in 2003 with a high standard
throughout the competition. With the largest prize fund for a competition of its
kind in the country 2004 will be no different. The Chernobyl Children's Project
is a most deserving cause and appreciates the work done by musicians through the
World.

A lovely project - Ciao
Bella!/Byvajce Zdarovy! - was created in Belarus - a CD was released with
popular Italian and Belarusian songs by some popular musicians. This is a way to
thank those Italian families, who host Belarusian Children from Chernobyl
affected areas every year for recovery vacation. We hope that we'll hear soon
Irish-Belarusian, American-Belarusian, German-Belarusian and other CDs from the
project. The project was sponsored by Belarusian company Felix
and it's Italian counter-part Felix-Italia, and of course many musicians, who
volunteered their time and talents.